June Christy: Something Cool

My copy arrived today. The vinyl is excellent, glossy, flat, dynamic looking and plays without any undue noise. Not quite up there with 'Diamond Mine' IMO, but a good album nonetheless. Good call Stu, thanks.

George.

George,

Glad you like it.

Its got that basic simple but clever good music thing going on that Diamond mine has.

Do you not think?

No record company behind them and they still produce a great sounding/pressing of thick vinyl with no loudness wars on it.

Why cant the big guns do it??

Hats off to them imo.

They have been and are still shipping it all round the world at that price and just £1 for P&P .

They can't be making any money on it.

Tim and Rebecca are nice people that are so happy people are enjoying there music.

Naim should sign them up?

Looking forward to there next project thats out soon.

Golden Fable  www.goldenfable.com 

Stu.

Stu,

I received a nice 'personal touch' note from them. I've no idea how they achieved such a good slab of vinyl without a record company. P&P is now £1.75, but you can't grumble at that when considering what a bargain the record is. I like it lots, but prefer Diamond Mine, just a personal taste thing. Lets hope they do well.

George.

That might be the Trick of the Tail so to speak.

Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 Forget record companies and DIY.DIY.

Stu.

You must take it to the your next club bash.

Or just to JNs .

John didn't bother but he is down here next month so he will have to listen to it 

Tony and Dave have it.

I have lost Mike and Pam's email so couldn't tell them about it.

Have not heard back from James.

Stu.

Looking forward to hear Zimerman's Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante.

I caved in and got the Clearaudio über reissue. Better be good for the price. So far packaging is a bit of a disappointment.

Thanks for this .... I have ordered a copy.... look forward to hearing it.

This is a bit good. Thanks Mike.

Pre-ordered the new Elbow double vinyl album last night from Universal music £19.99.

hmv £25

amazon pre-order want £35

Release date 27th Aug.

Stu.

Ditto Stu same supplier!

Storm Corrosion.

2 lp box set

George,

Nice.

I think i have the same recordings but with a different cover?

Will have to check with George as he knows the record numbers off by heart.

He is amazing.

I tell him the album name and he will roll off the record numbers straight off his head.

Stu.

It always has been a superb performance and recording... it's been in my collection since it was first released in the 1960's. The Speakers Corner re-issue is up with the best.

Klemperer left two studio recordings of the Brandenburg Concertos. This is the second one, done for EMI in 1960 with members of the Philharmonia Orchestra, and it is by no means the traditional massive Germanic set of performances one might expect at the time from a meastro of the great symphonic tradition. Karajan and Boult both left such "full orchestra" recordings from later [on DG and HMV/EMI respectively], which use the un-reduced string sections of a symphony orchestra! It is a matter of personal taste whether one can adapt to the transformations that result.

For me these massive performances are as anachronistic for Bach as are performances of his keyboard music on the modern grand concert piano! The sound world occupied by Klemperer's Philharmonia set is quite similar to that one would encounter from the Academy Of Saint Martin In The Field led by Neville Marriner, but the actual style is unadorned, and surprisingly modern in musical aspects. They get things right in stylistic terms that sometimes even elude modern performances, and the music making has a power and emotional depth that seems to elude almost all performances of the music from more recent times. The performances search out the light and the shadow in the music, which brings out something often overlooked in the music.

This is the one to go for of Klemperer's two.

The earlier one came out on 78s in 1946, and was recorded for an independent record label in Paris. In this Klemperer was attempting a style of performance that was then years ahead of its time with small forces, but he was quite adaptable about what players he could use in this period of European upheaval. For example as there was no trumpet player in Paris who could scale the treacherous heights of the Second Concerto, Klemperer employed an Alto-saxophone player, which was a considerable success! But that old set is now definitely a historical cureo. The Philharmonia set is anything but a historical cureo!

ATB from George

PS: For anyone interested here is a very good Klemperer discography:

http://www.klemperer.org/Search.php

All you need to do is check the tab of "composer," and search that way. Otherwise it is apt to say that the search found nothing. The list of composers whose music Klemperer left recordings, is amazingly broad. No Elgar though!

Very much look forward to hearing this set, George.

Thank you George, very useful.  A result of which I've just ordered this. 

I already have Schubert's Symphony 9 by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/Kertesz which I like very much, but this took my fancy.

Now I have those Brandenburg concertos, if not on vinyl!

A world away from the high pressure - "we have a train to catch you know" - style of more recent years, but not weighty in the sense of the performers being loud or large in number. In fact very trim!

But most of all completely engaging.

ATB from George

George,

Wonderful! The harpsichord is a treat.

Thanks for the interesting read on Klemperer/Brandenburg.

George,

Thanks for the info and great read as normal.

Stu.

matt, 

how are those MOFI reissues?

A couple of reissues: Classic Records mono 

Impex Reissue

Chesky Reissue